


Beyond the Words of a Twisted Mind

by zahhisio



Series: That Which Lies Beyond Words [2]
Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Gen, Implied Friendly Attack, Laughter, Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22185382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zahhisio/pseuds/zahhisio
Summary: A chance in encounter with Henry helped the Summoner notice the shady side of the Askran military, as well as himself.
Series: That Which Lies Beyond Words [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591894
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Beyond the Words of a Twisted Mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alayyae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alayyae/gifts).



> “Oh! Planning on sending me out to kill some more, [Summoner]?  
> Nya ha! That's great!  
> Who's my target? A Hero? Emblian soldier? Oh! Could it be someone in the Order of Heroes?  
> Huh? Allies don't kill each other? Who told you THAT? Eh, if you say so, I guess...  
> Then again, I like this place, and I wouldn't want anyone to die.  
> You won't die, will you, [Summoner]?  
> If you died, I'd have to invent a horrible new hex for whoever killed you. So just...stay alive, OK?”

_ Again with the crows _ , Leorus thought. He found Henry under the same tree he had always gone to every time he has nothing to do - one with a flock of crows perched on its branches, cawing incessantly as Henry, somehow, spoke with them. He’d giggle and snarl and just converse with them, spending his days in the company of the jet black-feathered pals.

Paling in comparison to the best of his red tome mages, Celica and Lilina, did not help Henry’s case. Such was the case that in order to lift the burden off the weathered customers of the battlefield, Leorus decided to let the other Heroes have their share of the battlefield. “Shared responsibility” or something like that.

He started with Henry. "Ready for the next sortie, Henry?" He called out to him. He was certain that his voice drowned in the cacophony from the crows, but Henry somehow managed to listen to it. He turned around and stared at him - presumably, as his squinted eyes remained that way.

"Oh, planning on sending me out to kill some more, Summoner?"

While grim, Henry's line does not surprise him. He knew full well that he always had a penchant for violence and blood. Unsurprisingly and worryingly, however, it did not stop at his enemies - reports from squads of Askran soldiers indicate that Henry, somehow, had managed to harm them during training. He was not inclined to believe it at first, until the victims began to queue and show him marks of pecks that might very well come from Henry’s raven tome.

For now, he had adjusted Breidablik to prevent any further incidents of such kind between Heroes. All that was left was the root of the problem itself.

"Well… we can't exactly convince our foes to surrender, no?" He answered, with a hint of sarcasm that Henry quickly caught on.

"Nya ha! Of course!" The mage let out his signature laugh - one which sincerity cannot be gauged by the Summoner. "How silly of me! I'll need to take some time to say goodbye to my friends, though."

"Don't take too long,” he curtly reminded him. After Henry replied with an energetic nod, he continued speaking with his arms crossed. “Also, do keep your lethal intentions to a minimum. I've received reports of you… having bad intentions towards our allies in Askr."

"Aw, come on! It was just a jo-"

"Henry.” 

Was it a surprise that he did not deny nor deflect the question? Probably not. It was Henry he was talking to - a Plegian dark mage who has an affinity towards anything macabre and bloody. Harming allies, whether it was by accident or on purpose, would not be far off his behavior.

Maybe if he sent Henry home instead, no one would ever know...

No, no.  _ What was I thinking? _

He wanted Askr to be a place where Heroes can live a peaceful life. The fights the Order has to fight do make it hard, but as for the rest of the Heroes…

He cursed himself for harboring such a malicious thought. Still, the tension thickened. The two men, with Henry’s friends as their spectators, were rooted to where they stood, none of them willing to move an inch.

“Listen to me,” he demanded. His tone deepened. “Allies don't hurt each other."

"Who told you  **THAT** ?!"

As if on cue with Henry’s sudden aggression, the crows fell silent. Their jet-black eyes reflected the afternoon sun as they stared at Leorus. Henry’s, too, were open for what might be the first time in the Summoner’s life. They were tinted a sickly blue, but such a color, when surfacing only by a little through his squints, were surely menacing.

Breidablik’s blessing that prevented Heroes from attacking one another nor the Summoner was the only protection against Henry. It was, though, enough to motivate Leorus enough to stand his ground and stare back at the mage.

"You don't need to be told about it to know that it's wrong," he coldly retorted.

He knew not from where the courage required to go against someone with the experience of killing people twice as much as him came. His own morals were also responsible for his outburst, especially when faced with someone who was contrastingly as amoral as the white-haired mage.

To his surprise, Henry relented. His tome closed shut with a loud thud that drowned, again, in a crescendo of the crows’ cry. His eyes were squinted again as he awkwardly scratched his hair.

"If you say so, I guess…”

He sounded reluctant, but somehow the tension dissipated. Henry returned to his normal, aloof self, and he put down his tome as Leorus drew his hand away from his dagger.

“It doesn't sound really stupid, so I'll follow your orders for now,” Henry reasoned.

"Glad we can understand each other." 

His mood soured by the close encounter, Leorus turned around and started walking away before he realized something.

_ Did I just see him cringing as he shut his tome? I did not imagine that, no? _

The question that came after his mulling over was sharp and sudden.

“What did they do to you?”

“Nothing as bad as what happened to me back in the academy,” Henry waved Leorus’ accusation away. It was fleeting, but he detected a wince coming from him again. His worries doubled as he tried to keep himself from raising his tone.

“That doesn’t mean they’re excused. Tell me, and I’ll make sure they’ll pay.”

“Nya ha ha! Don’t worry, it’s all water under the bridge!” Again, Henry tried to keep Leorus’ worries at bay, this time with that signature laugh of his. “Maybe they’ll die off somewhere, so why should I concern myself with them?”

Leorus let out a sigh of defeat. He wanted to press on the issue no more, and the guy himself seemed to be too unwilling to share his side of the story. Concluding that further interrogation would bear no fruit, he walked away without so much as a goodbye before Henry stopped him with a question.

"But you - you won't die, will you, Summoner?"

It sounded sincere and ominous at the same time - especially when someone of Henry’s caliber and reputation was the one asking it. The Summoner turned around again, his glare growing more intensely by every passing second.

"I'm glad you're concerned about me, but no, as long as I position myself behind the lines. Why ask?"

"You know,” Henry began, letting his right hand fall limp as he held his tome with the left one. Leorus chose to ignore that and set himself to listen to him instead. 

“I've grown to like this place, and I don't want anyone else to die."

"Other than those pesky Askran soldiers, I assume?"

"Right-o!” 

The two shared a soft laughter together before Henry continued. “Also, if you die, I'd have to invent a horrible new hex for whoever killed you."

Plegian hexes are the most potent ones; Leorus knew that from first-hand experience of watching Tharja inflict it upon Robin for giggles time and time again. Somehow, the thought that Henry would whip up a new one for the sake of revenge involving him was…

Heartwarming, to say the least.

His tone mellowed, and he slowed down his speech as his lips slowly curved into a smile matching Henry’s. "I wouldn't say that I dislike your preferential treatment… but if so,” he paused as he raised his finger, “I have one request."

"Ooh. I love requests! Name it!"

"Make it so agonizing that the victim would prefer death."

Silence overtook the air. Even the crows fell silent, seemingly as perplexed as Henry was with Leorus’ request. Before he could object to their reaction, he heard a laugh stifled by Henry, who was bending over with his hand on his mouth. The sound slowly, slowly built up, until he could not hold it in anymore and let out a guffaw like no other.

"Nya ha ha ha ha ha!”

It was unlike any other that Leorus heard that day - he could feel the excitement and happiness behind it, more so than the previous ones. Almost joining Henry in his laughter, he held it back and merely grinned as he patiently waited for Henry to finish laughing along with the crows that joined in.

It took him two minutes to stop. With tears from excessive laughter dropping down the corners of his eyes, Henry spoke to Leorus as he wrapped up his manic episode. “Absolutely! But if you want something like that, it would take a loooong time to make… so please, just stay alive, okay?"

"Gotcha."

The answer was short, but he supposed it was enough as a token of gratitude.

**Author's Note:**

> Here goes my round 2!
> 
> Actually, I've been thinking about loooots of characters for the second one, but based on my friend's suggestion I finally picked up Henry! Hope I successfully did him justice in this fic!


End file.
